After Republicans suggested a countrywide ban on abortion after 15 weeks, the Democrat running for governor in Arizona next month indicated that she doesn’t favor any restrictions on abortion.
Arizona is one among the 13 states that have trigger laws, which essentially outlawed abortion after the Supreme Court reversed the important Roe v. Wade ruling in June.
All abortions are prohibited in Arizona under a statute that was upheld and took effect on September 24. The exception is where bringing the pregnancy to term would endanger the mother’s health or life.
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told CBS News Face the Nation presenter Major Garret on Sunday morning, “I do not support the 15 week restriction.”
She said, “I believe leaving the choice between a woman and her doctor and completely keeping government out of it.”
After serving two straight four-year terms as governor of Arizona, Hobbs is challenging Republican Kari Lake for the position.
Pro-abortion organizations in Arizona filed injunctions to prevent the reinstatement of Arizona’s previous abortion statute after the termination of the federal protections granted by the Roe v. Wade judgment in 1973.
Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked for the injunction to be lifted, but Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson rejected his request after hearing the case’s grounds.
When it comes to abortion, Hobbs has been characterized by Lake as “extreme.” Hobbs made it seem as if she was okay with abortions occurring at any point throughout a woman’s pregnancy, even right up to delivery.
Hobbs scoffed, saying, “You and I both know that late-term abortion is incredibly uncommon. And if it’s being discussed, it means that a pregnancy has gone horribly wrong. Just because someone decides they want an abortion, a doctor won’t perform one late in a pregnancy. That is absurd.”
What would the week restriction for access to abortions be under the Hobbs administration? If not 15 weeks, how long? What is that? Garrett pushed hard.
She disengaged, saying, “Look, abortion is a highly personal choice that belongs between a woman and her doctor.” The government and politics shouldn’t be involved in that choice; instead, we should allow physicians to provide the treatment for which they have been specially educated and sworn.
Would it be accurate for an Arizona voter to infer from your prior response that you oppose any particular week restriction on abortion? When Hobbs didn’t immediately respond, he inquired once again.
“I favor letting a woman and her doctor make that choice and completely cutting out politics from the process.”
Last week, South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham unveiled a plan that would forbid women throughout the country from getting abortions beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Democrats contend that this is a retreat by Republicans from their previous position that the Roe decision returns the matter to the states, where individual states may choose their own abortion regulations.
According to the Cook Political Report, which shows neither Hobbs nor Lake tipping the scales, Arizona is the only state with a GOP governor presently in office that is currently considered a “toss up” race.
In a large portion of the early polls, Hobbs moved ahead of Lake by around 5 percentage points, but in recent months, the gaps have shrunk significantly.
According to the most current average of polls from FiveThirtyEight, Lake is only in the rear by.4% this week and.1% last week.